Herpes Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Herpes, including details on herpes simplex virus (hsv), genital, oral, symptoms, treatment.

TLR3 deficiency in patients with herpes simplex encephalitis.

Zhang SY, Jouanguy E, Ugolini S, Smahi A, Elain G, Romero P, Segal D, Sancho-Shimizu V, Lorenzo L, Puel A, Picard C, Chapgier A, Plancoulaine S, Titeux M, Cognet C, von Bernuth H, Ku CL, Casrouge A, Zhang XX, Barreiro L, Leonard J, Hamilton C, Lebon P, Héron B, Vallée L, Quintana-Murci L, Hovnanian A, Rozenberg F, Vivier E, Geissmann F, Tardieu M, Abel L, Casanova JL

Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), U550, Faculty Necker, Paris 75015, France.

Some Toll and Toll-like receptors (TLRs) provide immunity to experimental infections in animal models, but their contribution to host defense in natural ecosystems is unknown. We report a dominant-negative TLR3 allele in otherwise healthy children with herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) encephalitis. TLR3 is expressed in the central nervous system (CNS), where it is required to control HSV-1, which spreads from the epithelium to the CNS via cranial nerves. TLR3 is also expressed in epithelial and dendritic cells, which apparently use TLR3-independent pathways to prevent further dissemination of HSV-1 and to provide resistance to other pathogens in TLR3-deficient patients. Human TLR3 appears to be redundant in host defense to most microbes but is vital for natural immunity to HSV-1 in the CNS, which suggests that neurotropic viruses have contributed to the evolutionary maintenance of TLR3.

Published 17 September 2007 in Science, 317(5844): 1522-7.
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